Design and implementation of a trajectory tracking controller for an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)

This paper proposes a new methodology for integrated design of guidance and control systems for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The methodology developed leads to a systematic procedure for the design of controllers for AUVs to accurately track reference trajectories defined in an inertial reference frame. The paper illustrates the application of this procedure to the design of a tracking controller for the AUV MARIUS. The design phase is summarized, and the performance of the resulting controller is assessed in simulation using dynamic models of the vehicle and its sensor suite.